Discover how livestock transport crates are designed and fabricated for safe animal transport. Learn about ventilation design, material selection, and compliance with animal welfare regulations.
The Job Livestock Transport Crate Fabrication Has to Do
Transporting livestock safely requires purpose-built crates that provide adequate ventilation, space, and protection during transit. Whether transporting pigs to market, sheep to pasture, or poultry to processing, transport crates must meet animal welfare regulations while withstanding road and rail transport. At Fulei Metal, we fabricate livestock transport crates for agricultural operations across Europe and Asia.
Transport Crate Types
Pig transport crates contain animals securely with adequate ventilation, drainage, and stacking hardware. Sheep and goat transport crates are larger, accommodating multiple animals with ventilation openings, internal dividers, and non-slip floors. Poultry transport crates are stackable containers holding multiple birds with ventilation openings and stacking features. Calf transport crates provide individual or small-group housing with solid floors and ventilation. Specialty transport crates are designed for breeding stock, veterinary patients, or exotic species.
Decisions to Make Before Cutting Livestock Transport Crate Fabrication
Adequate ventilation is critical with openings providing sufficient airflow without drafts. Transport crates must provide adequate floor space and height per animal welfare regulations. Crates must allow urine and feces to drain away from animals with drainage openings or slats. Crates must be stackable with features that align securely and prevent shifting. Transport crates must be cleaned and disinfected between uses, requiring smooth surfaces, minimal crevices, and drainage features.
What Material Suits Livestock Transport Crate Fabrication
Hot-dip galvanized steel is the standard material with zinc coating providing corrosion resistance against animal waste and cleaning chemicals. We use 1.5 to 3.0 mm steel tube for frames and 1.0 to 2.0 mm sheet for panels. For biosecure operations, stainless steel (grade 304) provides superior corrosion resistance. Powder coating over galvanized steel provides a smoother, easier-to-clean surface.
Cutting, Bending and Welding Livestock Transport Crate Fabrication
Our TRUMPF fiber laser cuts crate components, brackets, and reinforcement plates with precise ventilation openings and drainage holes. Steel tubes and wire are cut and formed for frames and mesh panels. CNC press brake machines form crate body panels, floor components, and door panels with proper drainage slopes. Crate assembly uses MIG welding for tube frames, spot welding for mesh panels, and TIG welding for stainless steel. Galvanized crates are hot-dip galvanized after fabrication.
Transport Crates: Lifted, Stacked and Washed
A crate is a structure that gets loaded, stacked and handled, and the loading cases it sees in service are much less gentle than the ones a stationary pen sees. Three details come out of that. The crate is designed so that it can be lifted without the lifting load passing through a single welded joint. The floor is a perforated or slatted panel rather than a solid sheet, so that wash water leaves the crate instead of sitting in it. And every closed tube member is vented before galvanizing, because a crate that is washed down regularly will find any trapped volume and rust out from inside it.
What to Send for Livestock Transport Crate Fabrication Pricing
Livestock transport crate fabrication requires understanding of animal welfare regulations, ventilation design, and corrosion protection. Fulei Metal’s experience in livestock equipment fabrication makes us a trusted partner for transport crate projects.
Send drawings and we will check them against our DFM engineering review capability before quoting. You can also see how this fits into our custom sheet metal fabrication work, or read Cattle Fence Panel Fabrication first if you are still comparing options.
Need a Similar Part?
Most enquiries that start on a page like this are not an order for Livestock Transport Crate Fabrication — they are a search for a factory that can make something like it. Send us your drawing, 3D model or sample and we will review the manufacturing process and the quotation requirements, then come back with a process plan, a price and a lead time.
We work from 2D drawings, STEP / DWG / DXF / PDF files, or a physical sample if that is all you have.
No complete drawings yet? Describe the part, send photos or a sketch, or send a sample — we can start from there. Discuss your project.
Trade Terms and Delivery
We quote under the standard Incoterms your logistics team already works with, and build the packing and documentation around the one you choose.
- EXW — you collect from our Ningbo facility and run export clearance through your own forwarder.
- FOB Ningbo — we deliver to the vessel at Ningbo port and handle export clearance.
- CIF — we cover carriage and insurance to your named destination port.
- DDP — we handle carriage, insurance, import clearance and duties through to your door.
Send your destination country, target delivery date and preferred trade term together with the drawing. Request a quotation.
Payment Terms
How a project is paid for is agreed before production starts, and the structure that applies to your order is stated on the quotation and on the order confirmation, so there is no ambiguity later.
- 30% advance payment with the order and the 70% balance before shipment — our standard structure.
- 70% advance payment with the order and the 30% balance before shipment — used for some projects.
- 100% payment in advance before production starts — used for some projects.
If your finance team works to a fixed structure, say so in the first enquiry and we will confirm what applies to your order before you commit. Request a quotation.
Quotation Time
We quote from your drawings. How long that takes depends on what the part asks for:
- Simple parts — quoted within 24 hours. Laser-cut blanks and bent components, supplied with complete 2D or 3D drawings. Mon–Fri, GMT+8.
- Complex assemblies — quoted after the drawing review. Payment kiosks, multi-part welded frames, enclosures with purchased hardware, or anything needing a coating or assembly trial. We confirm a quotation date once the scope is clear.
Production lead time is quoted separately, after drawing review and process confirmation. Send your drawings.
What stands behind this quotation
- Manufacturing since 20162,500 m² Ningbo plant — 3 laser cutting machines (including newer TRUMPF), 4 CNC press brakes and 10 welding stations.
- Shipped to more than 30 export marketsEnclosures, cabinets and formed parts supplied to OEM buyers across Europe, North America and Asia.
- 123 documented product casesMedical device housings, HVAC and heat pump enclosures, agricultural and livestock equipment, industrial hydraulics, material handling trolleys and EV charging cabinets.
- Factory evidence you can checkTUV Rheinland audit reference MIC-ASI243729 and Bureau Veritas reference MIC-ASR263630 available for buyer review on request.
Before you send drawings: project confidentiality is default · first-article inspection is carried out before a batch continues · pricing is staged from prototype quantity to repeat volume · pre-shipment photos and packing records are prepared when the project needs them.